French 2014 slaughter figures similar to previous year

In the past year, French abattoirs have slaughtered 23,652,213 pigs, which is just 90,000 or 0.4% less than in the previous year. In tonnage, the figures are similar too, with 1,943,603 tonnes in 2014 compared to 1,938,488 tonnes in 2013, according to figures from the department of agriculture in Paris.

However, the French export of pig meat is lower than a year earlier. Over the first 11 months of 2014, France exported 561,232 tonnes to other countries, which is almost 8% less than in the same period in 2013. The export of live pigs came to 53,896 animals, 2.5% lower y-o-y. The import of pork meat amounted to 567,899 tonnes, a mere 0.2% less.

The biggest decline was in the import of live pigs which was at 3,779 animals almost 40% less than in 2013. In the month of November, France imported no more than 110 live pigs from other countries while that figure was 432 a year earlier.